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John Hadley

2025-09-03T16:45:58Z

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{{Short description|English mathematician (1682–1744)}}{{other people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name = John Hadley
|image =John Hadley.jpg
|caption =
|birth_date = {{birth date|1682|4|16|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Bloomsbury]], [[London]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|1744|2|14|1682|4|16|df=y}}
|death_place = [[East Barnet]], [[Hertfordshire]]
|residence =
|citizenship =
|nationality = English
|ethnicity =
|field =
|work_institutions =
|alma_mater =
|doctoral_advisor =
|doctoral_students =
|known_for = [[Octant (instrument)|Octant]]
|author_abbrev_bot =
|author_abbrev_zoo =
|influences =
|influenced =
|prizes =
|religion =
|footnotes =
|signature =
}}

'''John Hadley''' (16 April 1682 – 14 February 1744) was an [[England|English]] mathematician, and laid claim to the invention of the [[octant (instrument)|octant]], two years after [[Thomas Godfrey (inventor)|Thomas Godfrey]] claimed the same.<ref>{{cite book | title=Correspondence between William Penn and James Logan | publisher=J. B. Lippincott & Co. | year=1870 | location=Philadelphia}}</ref>

==Biography==
He was born in [[Bloomsbury]], [[London]] the eldest son of George Hadley of [[Osidge]], [[East Barnet]], [[Hertfordshire]] and his wife Katherine FitzJames.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/eastbarnet00cass/page/n97/mode/2up | title=East Barnet | year=1885 }}</ref> His younger brother [[George Hadley]] became a noted [[meteorologist]].

In 1717 John became a member (and later vice-president) of the [[Royal Society of London]]. In 1729 he inherited his father's East Barnet estate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/history/Biographies/Hadley.html|title=John Hadley|accessdate = 15 March 2016}}</ref>

He died in [[East Barnet]] in north London in 1744, and is buried in the local churchyard with other members of his family. He had married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Hodges, FRS (former [[Attorney General of Barbados]]) and had one child, a son and heir John, born in 1738.

==Work==
In 1730 Hadley invented the reflecting octant, which could be used to measure the altitude of the sun or other [[celestial sphere|celestial]] objects above the horizon at sea. A mobile arm carrying a mirror and pivoting on a graduated arc provides a reflected image of the celestial body overlapping the image of the horizon, which is observed directly.<ref>
Institute and Museum of the History of Science, Florence, Italy: Picture of Hadley's octant [http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20100805011752/http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/museum/esim.asp?c=413024]</ref> If the position of the object on the sky and the time of the observation are known, it is easy for the user to calculate his own [[latitude]]. The octant proved extremely valuable for navigation and displaced the use of other instruments such as the [[Davis quadrant]]. An [[United States|American]], [[Thomas Godfrey (inventor)|Thomas Godfrey]], independently invented the octant at approximately the same time.

Hadley also developed ways to make precision aspheric and [[Parabolic reflector|parabolic]] [[Objective (optics)|objective]] mirrors for [[reflecting telescope]]s. In 1721 he showed the first parabolic [[Newtonian telescope]] to the Royal Society.<ref>[http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations//groundup/lesson/scopes/hadley/index.php amazing-space.stsci.edu - Hadley’s Reflector]</ref> This Newtonian, with a {{convert|6|in|mm|adj=mid|-diameter}} [[primary mirror]], compared favorably with the large [[Aerial telescope|aerial refracting telescopes]] of the day.<ref>[http://labbey.com/Telescopes/Hadley.html The complete Amateur Astronomer - John Hadley's Reflector]</ref> He also made [[Gregorian telescope]]s with accurately shaped mirrors.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=KAWwzHlDVksC&dq=John+Hadley++Gregorian&pg=PA77 Henry C. King - The history of the telescope - page 77]</ref><ref>[http://www.telescope-optics.net/two-mirror.htm telescopeѲptics.net - 8.2. Two-mirror telescopes]</ref>

==Honors==
[[Mons Hadley]] and [[Rima Hadley]] on the [[Moon]] are named after him.
The [[Oasis Trust]] Academy in [[Ponders End]] in north London is called [[Oasis Academy Hadley]] in his honour.<ref>[http://www.oasiscommunitylearning.org/OasisAcademyinNEEnfield.html Oasis Academy in NE Enfield] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090222144731/http://www.oasiscommunitylearning.org/OasisAcademyinNEEnfield.html |date=22 February 2009 }} Retrieved 5 February 2009</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of largest optical telescopes in the 18th century]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{DSB
|first=H.C.
|last= King
|title=Hadley, John
|volume=6
|pages=5-6
}}

==External links==
{{Americana Poster|Hadley, John|John Hadley}}
* [http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Hadley.html Biography from the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St Andrews, Scotland]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hadley, John}}
[[Category:1682 births]]
[[Category:1744 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Chipping Barnet]]
[[Category:18th-century English astronomers]]
[[Category:18th-century English inventors]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:People from Bloomsbury]]
[[Category:English scientific instrument makers]]

Alan IV, Duke of Brittany

2025-09-03T13:52:47Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:5165:B57A:E942:3BE0: /* Conflict with Normandy */Enlarged image

{{Short description|Duke of Brittany from 1072 to 1112}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name =Alan IV
| image =Sceau Alain Fregent.jpg
| image_size =180px
| caption =Alan IV's seal
| succession =[[Duke of Brittany]]
| reign =1072–1112
| predecessor =[[Hoël II]] & [[Hawise, Duchess of Brittany|Hawise]]
| regent =Hoël II (1072–1084)
| successor =[[Conan III]]
| spouses = {{Plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Constance of Normandy]]|1086|1090|end=d}}
* {{marriage|[[Ermengarde of Anjou (d. 1146)|Ermengarde of Anjou]]<br>|1093}}
}}
| issue ={{ubl|[[Conan III, Duke of Brittany]]|Geoffrey|Hawise, Countess of Flanders|[[Brian Fitz Count]] (Illegitimate)}}
| house =[[House of Cornouaille|Cornouaille]]
| father =[[Hoël of Cornouaille]]
| mother =[[Hawise, Duchess of Brittany]]
| birth_date =c. 1063
| birth_place =
| death_date =13 October 1119
| death_place =[[Redon Abbey]]
| place of burial=[[Redon Abbey]]
| signature =
}}
'''Alan IV''' (c. 1063 – 13 October 1119) was [[Duke of Brittany]] from 1072 until his abdication in 1112. He was also [[Count of Nantes]] (from c. 1103) and [[Count of Rennes]]. His parents were [[Hawise, Duchess of Brittany|Duchess Hawise]] and [[Hoel II, Duke of Brittany|Duke Hoel II]].{{sfn|Everard|2004|p=xv}} He is also known as '''Alan Fergant'''. Through his father, he was of the Breton House of Cornouaille dynasty ([[Breton language|Breton]]: ''Kerne'' dynasty). He was the last [[Breton language|Breton-speaking]] Duke of Brittany.{{sfn|Piette|2008|p=36}}

==Conflict with Normandy==
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2023}}
A traditional rivalry between [[Duchy of Brittany|Brittany]] and [[Duchy of Normandy|Normandy]] continued at the close of the 11th century. The Breton-Norman war of 1064–1065 was the result of [[William the Bastard]], Duke of Normandy (later to become known as William the Conqueror) support of rebels in Brittany against Alan's maternal uncle, [[Conan II, Duke of Brittany|Conan II]].

Conan II died in late 1066 during a campaign in Anjou, and was succeeded by Alan's parents, [[Hawise, Duchess of Brittany|Hawise]] and [[Hoël II]]. When Hawise died in 1072, Alan became duke, but as he was a minor, Hoël ruled as regent until Alan reached his majority in 1084.{{efn|Following medieval examples given in Bailey et al., Alan may have been twenty-one years of age at that time.{{sfn|Bailey|Bernard|Carrier|Elliott|2008|pp=41-60}}}}

To prevent further hostilities during his invasion of England, William I married his daughter [[Constance of Normandy|Constance]] to the new duke Alan in 1087.{{sfn|Everard|2004|p=10}} The marriage ceremonies may have taken place in [[Bayeux]] in Normandy. [[William of Malmesbury]] wrote that Constance was unpopular at the Breton court because of her "severe and conservative" manner. However, [[Orderic Vitalis]] wrote that as duchess Constance did all she could to further the welfare of the Bretons, who grieved deeply at her death in 1090.

In 1092, Alan IV donated property to the [[Redon Abbey|abbey of Redon]] by charter, and by 1093 married [[Ermengarde of Anjou (d. 1146)|Ermengarde of Anjou]], as a political alliance with [[Fulk IV of Anjou]] to counter Anglo-Norman influence.
[[File:Redon - Abbatiale Saint-Sauveur et Mairie - Cylindrique - 20090704.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|Redon Abbey in [[Brittany]], the final resting place of Alan IV]]

Duke Alan IV's cousin Geoffrey I Boterel (eldest brother of Alan Rufus) died on 24 August 1093 in battle at Dol while in rebellion against the Duke.

Between 1101 and 1104, Alan's younger brother, Count [[Matthew II of Nantes]], died without issue and his county passed to Alan.

Alan IV abdicated as duke in 1112. The former duke retired to the monastery of Redon, where he died in 1119.

==Crusader==
In 1098 Alan went on the [[First Crusade]],{{sfn|Everard|2004|p=12}} as part of the [[army of Robert Curthose]], leaving Ermengarde as his regent, and returned in 1101.

==Family==

Alan IV married [[Constance of Normandy]], the daughter of [[William I of England]], in 1087. Constance died in 1090. [[William of Malmesbury]] alleges that her husband, Alan, had their servants poison her.{{sfn|Panton|2011|p=110}}
They had no children.

Alan's second marriage was to [[Ermengarde of Anjou (d. 1146)|Ermengarde of Anjou]] in 1093.{{sfn|Everard|2004|p=10}} With Ermengarde he had three children:
*Geoffrey - died young;
* [[Conan III, Duke of Brittany|Conan]] - his successor as Duke of Brittany{{sfn|Everard|2004|p=10}}
* Hawise - she married Count [[Baldwin VII of Flanders]], also known as ''Hawise Fergant.'' They divorced and had no issue.

Alan and Ermengarde were separated upon his abdication as duke in 1112.

He had two illegitimate sons:
*[[Brian Fitzcount]]{{sfn|Warren|1974|p=74}} - held the lordships of [[Wallingford, Oxfordshire|Wallingford]] and [[Abergavenny]]. Was a favourite of [[Henry I of England]], and a staunch supporter of his daughter, the [[Empress Matilda]], during [[the Anarchy]] (1135–1153).
* Guihomar

==Succession==
Alan IV died in 1119 at the monastery of Redon, where he had retired after his abdication in 1112, and separation from his wife Ermengarde. His only surviving son, [[Conan III]] succeeded him.

==See also==
*[[Dukes of Brittany family tree]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Sources==
*{{cite journal |title=Coming of Age and the Family in Medieval England |DOI=10.1177/03631990073084492008
|journal=Journal of Family History |volume=33 |number=1 |pages=41–60|first1=B. Gregory |last1=Bailey|first2=Meaghan E. |last2=Bernard|first3=Gregory |last3=Carrier|first4=Cherise L. |last4=Elliott|first5=John |last5=Langdon|first6=Natalie |last6=Leishman|first7=Michal |last7=Mlynarz|first8=Oksana |last8=Mykhed|first9=Lindsay C. |last9=Sidders|publisher=SAGE |year=2008 }}
*{{cite book |first=J. A. |last=Everard |title=Brittany and the Angevins: Province and Empire 1158–1203 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 }}
*{{cite book |first=James|last=Panton|title=Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy |publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=0810874970|year=2011 }}
*{{cite book |first=Gwenno |last=Piette |title=A Concise History of Brittany |publisher=University of Wales Press |year=2008 }}
*{{cite book |first=W. L. |last=Warren |title=Henry II |publisher=University of California Press |year=1974 }}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*http://patp.us/genealogy/conq/richmond.aspx {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070801114317/http://patp.us/genealogy/conq/richmond.aspx |date=2007-08-01 }}

{{s-start}}
{{S-hou|House of Cornouaille|||13 October|1119}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Hoel II]] }}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Duke of Brittany]]|years=1072–1112}}
{{s-aft|rows=3|after=[[Conan III]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Geoffrey Grenonat|Geoffrey I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Count of Rennes]]|years=1072–1112}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Matthew II of Nantes|Matthew II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Count of Nantes]]|years=1103–1112}}
{{s-end}}

{{Breton monarchs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alan 04, Duke of Brittany}}
[[Category:1060s births]]
[[Category:1119 deaths]]
[[Category:11th-century dukes of Brittany]]
[[Category:12th-century dukes of Brittany]]
[[Category:Dukes of Brittany]]
[[Category:Christians of the First Crusade]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:Monarchs who abdicated]]

Minsden Chapel

2025-09-03T12:57:13Z

2A00:23C7:C8BC:C501:5165:B57A:E942:3BE0: /* History */

{{Short description|Chapel in Langley, Hertfordshire, UK}}
[[File:Minsden Chapel 2 (4648214892).jpg|thumb|right|The ruined Minsden Chapel in 2010]]
[[File:Reginald Hine Minsden Ghost 1907.jpg|thumb|160px|right|T.W. Latchmore's hoax photograph of the Minsden ghost (1907)]]
[[File:Reginald Hine Minsden Chapel.jpg|thumb|160px|right|Memorial to [[Reginald Hine]] at Minsden Chapel]]
'''Minsden Chapel''' is an isolated ruined [[chapel]] in the fields above the hamlet of Chapelfoot, near [[Preston, Hertfordshire|Preston]], [[Hertfordshire]]. Today it is a roofless shell, partly surrounded by a small wood, and accessible only by footpath. It is a Scheduled Monument and is Grade II Listed.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1347462|desc=Minsden Chapel at north east corner of Minsden Plantation...|access-date=17 May 2013}}</ref>

==History==

The chapel was built in the 14th century, and by the 17th century had
fallen into disrepair. Marriages continued here into the 18th century, until the crumbling masonry became too dangerous. One story says that a piece of falling stonework knocked the prayer-book out of a [[curate]]'s hand during the marriage ceremony of Enoch West and Mary Horn on the 11th of July 1738.<ref>Puttick, B. ''Ghosts of Hertfordshire'' (1994, Countryside Books) - chapter 14: "The Haunting of Minsden Chapel" p83 {{ISBN|1-85306-292-8}}</ref>

In the 20th century the chapel was closely associated with the historian [[Reginald Hine]] from nearby [[Baldock]]. He frequently visited here, and eventually obtained a lifetime lease of the building from the vicars of Hitchin. So fond of the chapel was he, that he even bade "trespassers and sacrilegious persons take warning, for I will proceed against them with the utmost rigour of the law, and, after my death and burial, I will endeavour, in all ghostly ways, to protect and haunt its hallowed walls".<ref>Hine, Reginald L. ''The History of Hitchin'', Vol II page 38 (1929, Allen and Unwin (London))</ref> Contrary to popular belief Hine is not buried at Minsden. His body was cremated at [[Golders Green Crematorium|Golders Green]] (London) and his ashes were subsequently scattered at the chapel. His family erected a memorial stone at the site, which was subsequently re-laid in its current grave-like horizontal position by them after it was damaged by vandals in the early 1980s.<ref>Whitmore, Richard ''The Ghosts of Reginald Hine'' (2007, Mattingley Press (Hitchin))</ref>

In 1907, Thomas William Latchmore, a local professional photographer and friend of Hine, took a photograph that supposedly showed a [[ghost]]ly monk at the Chapel. Rumours of [[paranormal activity]] first appeared around this time. The haunting most frequently reported is that of a single monk climbing stairs (which no longer exist) to the north-east area of the chapel; this is said to occur at midnight on [[Halloween]].
Other reported experiences include the sighting of a glowing cross on the wall, and the hearing of distant music or the ringing of the stolen bells. Legends also exist of a lost tunnel built during the time of the Crusades that extended to nearby [[Temple Dinsley]], and another of a murdered nun.

In an interview given in 1930 to [[Elliott O'Donnell]], a well-known contemporary writer on occult matters, Latchmore finally admitted that his 'Minsden Ghost' photograph was a hoax. He explained that the picture was the deliberate result of an experiment in the techniques of [[multiple exposure|double exposures]], a subject that interested him greatly at the time. Although Latchmore refused to disclose the identity of the individual who had posed as the ghostly figure, it seems likely that it was a young man well known for practical jokes, Latchmore's good friend Reginald Hine. Hine re-published the photograph in 1929 in his ''History of Hitchin'' but never admitted it was a fake nor his own part in it.<ref>Whitmore, Richard ''The Ghosts of Reginald Hine'' pp113-116</ref>

Paranormal investigator [[Peter Underwood (parapsychologist)|Peter Underwood]] once spent a night there in the late 1940s, during which he claimed to have heard the sound of distant music and to have seen a white glowing cross on one of the walls, which disappeared and then reappeared, although he suggested "it could possibly have been a trick of the moonlight, as a full moon was shining down through the trees at the time".<ref>{{Cite book|title=No Common Task: Autobiography of a Ghost Hunter|last=Underwood|first=Peter|date=1983-11-16|publisher=George G.Harrap & Co Ltd|isbn=9780245539596|edition=1st|location=London|page=53|language=en}}</ref>

The iconic arch of Minsden Chapel finally fell in 2008 due to time and erosion from the elements, and by 2012 most of the north-facing wall had also disappeared. In 2017, it was reported that the Church Commissioners for England, who own the site, were intending to sell it to a "surrounding landowner", sparking fears that the public could lose access to the site.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thecomet.net/news/are-church-plans-to-sell-off-14th-century-grade-ii-listed-haunted-chapel-near-hitchin-an-own-ghoul-1-5013140|title=Are church plans to sell off 14th century Grade II-listed 'haunted chapel' near Hitchin an own ghoul?|last=Yousif|first=Layth|date=11 May 2017|work=[[The Comet (newspaper)|The Comet]]|access-date=28 May 2017}}</ref>

Work to repair Minsden Chapel by [[Natural England]], in partnership with [[Historic England]], started in March 2022 with the intention of stabilising the arch openings of the south wall, to conserve the overall structure, and to install hard-capping over the wall head.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Minsden Chapel Hitchin 2016.jpg|Minsden Chapel in 2016
File:MinsdenChapelMay2004.jpg|The overgrown ruins of Minsden chapel, in May 2004
</gallery>

==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Listed buildings in Hertfordshire|G2}}
{{coord|51.906631|N|0.259552|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}}

[[Category:Chapels in England]]
[[Category:Scheduled monuments in Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:Grade II listed churches in Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:Ruins in Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:Grade II listed ruins]]
[[Category:Paranormal hoaxes]]
[[Category:Reportedly haunted locations in the East of England]]
[[Category:Hertfordshire folklore]]